Shimla, June 7 -- The state cabinet in its meeting held on Saturday under the chairmanship of chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu approved the Policy for Regularisation of Certain Encroachments on Government Land, 2026, aimed at addressing the humanitarian concerns of landless families and marginal farmers who are in possession of government land for residential, agricultural and horticultural purposes. The Cabinet approved the regularisation policy paving the way for the regularisation of up to 20 bighas of government land occupied and used for agriculture, horticulture or residential purposes by landless families and marginal farmers. The state government estimates that more than 1.67 lakh people could benefit from the decision. The policy has been framed in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court. The policy has been sent to the Centre for approval. The cabinet also approved the reconsideration of claims for compassionate appointments that were earlier rejected by various departments for various reasons. As a one-time measure, the most genuine rejected cases will be re-examined for consideration along with various needed relaxations. The cabinet approved the withdrawal of advertisements for 80 post codes issued by the erstwhile Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Hamirpur, and decided to refund the examination fee amounting to Rs 4.27 crore to the candidates concerned. It approved the launch of Phase-IV of the Rajiv Gandhi Swarojgar Start-Up Yojana. Under the scheme, eligible beneficiaries will be provided a 50% subsidy for the purchase of e-buses and a 30% subsidy for diesel buses to operate on identified bus routes, with the objective of promoting self-employment and strengthening public transport services. The cabinet approved amendments to the Himachal Pradesh NDPS Rules, 1989, to regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacturing, warehousing and transportation of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. It approved a special relief package for 15 fire-affected families in the Jubbal, Kotkhai and Rohru areas of Shimla district. Under the package, financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh per family will be provided to those whose houses were fully destroyed in fire incidents. A total assistance of Rs 84.70 lakh will be disbursed to the affected families. It was decided to constitute a Cabinet Sub- Committee to be presided by deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri to look into centralising and streamlining the recruitment process of multi task workers to be appointed in various departments. The Cabinet approved a reduction in the compounding fee for tractors transporting minerals for domestic use, bringing it down from Rs 4,500 to Rs 500. The decision will provide major relief to tractor operators by protecting them from undue harassment and eliminating the burden of excessive penalties. It approved Grazing Policy 2026 under which the forest department and animal husbandry department will join hands to develop a portal to facilitate the graziers and grant realtime permits to strengthen the rural economy. The cabinet decided to enhance the health insurance coverage under the HIMCARE Scheme by shifting it to the insurance mode. Under the revised arrangement, eligible beneficiaries will receive health insurance cover of Rs 7 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, as against the existing coverage of Rs 5 lakh. It also approved the State Innovation Policy for technical education institutions with the objective of establishing Himachal Pradesh as an emerging hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and start-ups. To operationalise the policy, a provision of Rs 2 crore has been earmarked for the period from 2026 to 2028. It also approved the grant of a 40-year lease in favour of the Himachal Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation Limited for the construction of a 132/33 KV Sub-Station at Patola and a 220 KV Switching Sub-Station at Kangen in Kangra district. It decided to introduce the Agriculture Loan Interest Subvention Scheme to those farmers whose land is up for auction. The state government will bear 50% of the interest liability on eligible agricultural loans up to Rs 3 lakh benefiting 6,356 farmers across the state. Cabinet decided to upgrade Civil Hospital Sarkaghat in Mandi district from 100 beds to 150 beds along with creation and filling up of requisite posts. It also decided to upgrade Primary Health Centre, Kalol in Bilaspur district as Community Health Centre along with creation and filling up of requisite posts. The Cabinet approved the opening of a Primary Health Sub-Centre at Manjheli in Hamirpur district, along with the creation and filling up of the requisite posts. It approved the upgradation of the state-level Shoolini Mela in Solan district to National-level status. It also decided to accord State-level status to Maan Shiv Shakti Jatar Mela, Chhatrari in Chamba district, and Shivratri Mela, Kathgarh in Indora of Kangra district. The Cabinet approved the upgradation of Mela Nerati Rait in Kangra district, Baridhar Mela Saryanj in Arki tehsil of Solan district, Chhinj Mela Garnota in Chamba district and Nahvidhar Mela in Karsog tehsil of Mandi district to District-level fairs....